Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth MP, call on Government to introduce emergency budget to help end winter crisis in the NHS last night central London rally.
Labour has also revealed new Party analysis that all 20 Cabinet Members have had dangerously full hospitals in their constituencies this winter, with numerous patients stuck for over 30 minutes in the back of ambulances.
The latest analysis of the weekly winter statistics published by NHS England yesterday shows that so far this winter, 89,161 patients have waited between 30-60 minutes in the back of an ambulance, and 26,845 have been left waiting for over an hour, bringing the total number of patients to 116,006.
Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said: “There must be no mistake: the NHS crisis is being caused by the political choices of this Tory Government.
“The Government is failing staff, patients and their families across the whole country. All 20 members of the cabinet’s own constituencies have dangerously full hospitals, with patients stuck in the back of ambulances and on trolleys.
“The Tories are failing our NHS. Labour built the NHS 70 years ago and it will be the next Labour government that secures our NHS for the next 70 years.”
“Having ignored repeated warnings from Labour, healthcare professionals and the public for urgent NHS funding this winter, Theresa May has overseen the worst winter crisis on record.
“Under the Tories, our NHS has been left underfunded, understaffed and overstretched. Despite the heroic efforts of our NHS staff, thousands of vulnerable patients have been left languishing on trolleys, stuck in the backs of ambulances and unable to receive the social care packages they urgently need.
“Our new analysis reveals that her entire inner circle is facing a disastrous winter crisis in their own backyards, with average bed occupancy in the Cabinet at 95% this winter. Perhaps her closest allies will now pressurise the Prime Minister into heeding Labour’s call for an emergency budget of £5 billion for our NHS.
“Labour founded the NHS, our proudest achievement, and on the year of its 70th anniversary we will fight to save the NHS from Tory underfunding, cuts and toxic privatisation.”